We Can Do More for Worker Safety

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Workers Memorial Day is this Sunday, April 28, when we honor workers killed or injured on the job. On this day in 1971, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) was formed.

For almost half a century, OSHA has been charged with helping to ensure safe and healthy working conditions for men and women across this country. But under the Trump administration, OSHA is failing us. As we observe Workers Memorial Day, it’s clear that we can do more – much more – for worker safety.

OSHA helps prevent workplace deaths and injuries by setting and enforcing standards, as well as providing training, education and assistance. But OSHA under the Trump administration is doing less – much less – and endangering workers’ lives.

“The low number of OSHA inspectors and the resultant decline in enforcement activity has a real impact on worker safety,” wrote Deborah Berkowitz, of NELP. The Trump administration “is scaling back OSHA enforcement activity, putting workers’ lives at risk and undercutting businesses that play by the rules and prioritize worker safety.”

Although Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) numbers for 2018 worker fatalities will not be released until later this year, the signs are not encouraging. As NELP points out, the number of necessary OSHA inspections due to work-related deaths or catastrophes has risen dramatically during the Trump administration. In other words, as the agency cuts back on enforcement activity, its own data suggest a large increase in workplace deaths.

The Trump administration has also been busy dismantling health and safety protections that have proven so effective. For example, earlier this year it gutted an Obama-era rule meant to help inspectors identify dangerous work conditions, as well as pressure businesses to comply with workplace safety laws.

You’ll hear lots of statements from some of our leaders in government calling for stronger protections. This one, from the Director of OSHA on the occasion of last year’s Workers Memorial Day, strikes all the right notes.

But lip service is not enough. As we honor workers killed or injured on the job, let’s not forget that we have what it takes to make workplaces safer and healthier. OSHA has a history of success in making it happen.

We can do more for worker safety. Now let’s demand it from our elected leaders.